Ever since I joined Smith’s back in Nov 2001 I appreciated the freedom that the system gave me. Most people focus on building up their student base or learning Japanese but I wanted to do something different – I wanted to make a system and design my own materials for kids. Now while I’m an absolutely awful artist I knew what I wanted. Over time I found the pieces of the puzzle that I needed to make my dream a reality. I found an artist and found a designer so little by little my materials have grown. Now with hundreds of pieces of artwork and numerous ways in which they can be used people ask me the most obvious question – Why haven’t I expanded on the number of kids I have? The answer’s simple – I’m happy with the number I’ve got.
I love teaching kids. At my ex-company I had the record for students, 126 in 22 classes. I was proud that I was able to keep students as well as improve their levels but I felt worn out and at the end of the day I found myself left with little energy to do what I wanted to do. My goal isn’t to teach 126 kids at my school but rather having lots of people using my materials and that way, in a small part, I’m able to help kids all over Japan.
If I had a lot of kids I’d have no time to develop more materials for them or my adult students. That’s not the only reason though. My adult students have become my lifeline. I don’t know what I’d do without them. Sometimes we have dinner together or get together for a small party but with kids I can’t really do that. In a nutshell, kids are fun but adults really challenge me and at this stage of my life I choose to focus on adults. What do you want?
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